Do you work at Mobile's brightest company? Take the quiz

Stephen Black is, he concedes, a nerd surrounded by a staff of nerds at the organization he runs, called Impact Alabama.

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QUIZ: 1: Cape Blanc in this country is Africa's northernmost mainland point. 2: This famous daughter wrote her senior thesis at Stanford on the peace process in Northern Ireland. 3: From the Greek for "all flesh" it acts as both an endocrine gland and a digestive organ. 4: Canal Street boasts a statue of Ignatius J. Reilly, the hero of this prize-winning novel by John Kennedy Toole. 5: This charter member of the American League won the World Series five times between 1903 & 1918. 6: When exposed to air, this chemical element can burst into flames, spontaneously.

So to create a new fundraising platform for nonprofits designed to raise $50,000 for Alabama charities in its first year, a trivia contest seemed quite natural.

The idea arose from the growing popularity of live trivia competitions held on quiet nights at local bars and coffee shops, he said.

Impact Alabama, a relatively new nonprofit, collaborates with colleges, universities and communities throughout the state to implement service projects to serve disadvantaged people. The college students who power these projects typically walk away with an enhanced sense of social and civic responsibility.

“They’re all smart cookies,” is how Downtown Mobile Alliance Director Carol Hunter describes Impact Alabama. “College graduates work for (Stephen Black) for a few thousand dollars a year because they want to be part of something bigger than themselves.”

Here’s how “Mobile’s Brightest Company Trivia Competition” would work, according to a Impact Alabama news release:

The event is planned for March 29 from 6 to 8 p.m. at Space 301 on Cathedral Square.

Several levels of sponsorship are available, but in general each team of 2 to 6 employees fielded will cost a company $500 to sponsor. Companies may sponsor as many teams as they like, and the winning team in each city will receive a $10,000 donation for its chosen nonprofit. Companies with fewer than 10 employees may fill their roster with employees’ immediate family members or significant others.

Topics will include current events, arts and culture, sports, science, geography and history, so teams should be devised that have at least one expert in one or more categories.

Similar, simultaneous events are planned that night in Birmingham, Huntsville and Montgomery. Mobile’s winning team will play a final round against winning teams from the other three cities to crown a statewide winner. The statewide winner will be awarded another $10,000, making a total donation of $20,000 for the team’s chosen charity.

The sponsors plan to have big-screen TVs so all the teams from each city can see what’s happening at the other sites and, of course, there will be adult beverages and refreshments.

Black said much of the early credit is due to a major sponsor, Protective Life Corp., an insurance and investment company based in Birmingham, which donated $50,000 to give away to the charities through the contest. “This really has been driven by Protective Life, we wouldn’t have near the scope we’ve got if they weren’t partnering with us,” Black said.

The most active local partners with Impact Alabama are the University of South Alabama and Spring Hill College, he said. Volunteers from those schools have helped with Impact’s two biggest projects, vision screening for youngsters and preparing free tax returns for low-income families.

“People from college age to 25 years old are the heart and soul of the organization,” Black said. “They have a willingness to put huge amounts of time and energy into improving the community.”

WHO IS STEPHEN BLACK?

Stephen Black studied American History at The University of Pennsylvania, where he received his Bachelor’s degree in 1993 graduating magna cum laude, before attending Yale Law School where he graduated in 1997. Following law school, Black moved to Birmingham to become involved in public affairs and to practice law at the firm Maynard, Cooper and Gale. After 3 years in private practice, he spent a year serving as an assistant to the governor, where he researched policy issues and worked on economic development projects.

After leaving the governor’s office in 2001, he returned to Maynard, Cooper and Gale. In June 2005, Black was appointed to the University of Alabama faculty as a Senior Lecturer in Communicative Ethics and asked to create and then direct a new Center for Ethics and Social Responsibility. He also serves on the boards of the Alabama Civil Justice Foundation, the Alabama Poverty Project, Bridge Builders, and the Nonprofit Resource Center of Alabama.